Baykar Akinci UCAV Fires UAV-300 Air-Launched Ballistic Missile for the First Time, Striking Maritime Target at 250+ km

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On September 11, 2026, Baykar's Bayraktar Akinci Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) completed the first live firing of the Roketsan-developed UAV-300 (also designated İHA-300, and referred to as the 300 ER by Turkish defence reporters), an air-launched supersonic ballistic missile. The weapon struck a maritime target at a range exceeding 250 kilometres during a test conducted over the Black Sea.

The Akinci departed from the Çorlu Flight Training and Test Centre in Tekirdağ. The firing test was carried out off the coast of Sinop, with the aircraft returning to Çorlu along its planned route following a confirmed direct hit. Baykar's Chief Technology Officer Selçuk Bayraktar and the company's official channels released video footage of the trial the same day.

Murat İkinci, General Manager of Roketsan — the missile's developer — formally described the event as the weapon's first live test and confirmed it had "successfully struck the target at a range of over 250 kilometers." Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar separately characterised the UAV-300 as the longest-range domestically developed missile yet to be fired from an indigenous unmanned platform, calling it a supersonic missile rather than a ballistic one — a distinction that reflects ongoing debate in the technical community over the weapon's precise flight trajectory classification.

The test did not arrive without warning. Just days earlier, on September 9, Baykar announced a separate firing trial of the smaller İHA-122 (UAV-122) from the same Akinci platform — and the UAV-300 had been visibly carried under the Akinci's wing during that sortie, foreshadowing an imminent live launch.

The UAV-300 is the latest and most capable munition in Roketsan's air-launched ballistic series, which began with the UAV-230 (İHA-230). That earlier weapon — itself derived from the surface-launched TRG-230 — was first fired from the Akinci in December 2022, striking a target at 100 km, and later achieved a range of 155 km in a November 2024 test. The UAV-300 nearly doubles that demonstrated reach in a single test event.

The Akinci has steadily accumulated one of the most diverse munitions portfolios of any unmanned platform in the world. In May 2023, it became the first UCAV globally to fire a cruise missile — Roketsan's Çakır — and in December 2025 it demonstrated precision strikes with three distinct Turkish-made guidance technologies including the MAM-T, LAÇİN-82, and TEBER-82 winged guidance kits. The UAV-300 integration adds a qualitatively different strike category: a high-speed, long-range weapon capable of engaging time-sensitive maritime and high-value land targets from well outside adversary air defence engagement envelopes.

Technical Breakdown

Platform: Bayraktar Akinci (HALE UCAV)

• Class: High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle
• Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW): ~6,000 kg
• Payload: ~1,500 kg total; approximately 400 kg internal, 950 kg external
• Propulsion: Twin turboprop engines (options for 450 hp, 750 hp, or 850 hp per unit); five-blade propellers
• Endurance: More than 24 hours
• Operational Range: ~6,000 km
• Service Ceiling: 40,000 ft (12,000 m)
• Sensors / Avionics: Dual satellite communications, air-to-air radar, synthetic aperture radar, electronic support systems, collision avoidance radar; AI-assisted targeting
• Autonomy Level: Semi-autonomous with AI-assisted mission systems; remotely piloted for primary operations
• Introduced: August 29, 2021 (Turkish Armed Forces)

Munition: UAV-300 / İHA-300 (300 ER)

• Developer: Roketsan
• Type: Supersonic air-launched ballistic/aeroballistic missile
• Mass: ~900 kg
• Length: ~5 metres
• Diameter: 370 mm
• Warhead: Estimated >150 kg (based on comparable-diameter munitions in Roketsan's family)
• Guidance: GNSS + INS (inertial navigation); TV camera seeker for terminal guidance
• Demonstrated Range: 250+ km (September 11, 2026 test)
• Design Range: 500+ km (dependent on launch altitude, speed, and flight profile of carrier platform)
• Speed: Supersonic; may approach hypersonic regime at maximum range depending on launch conditions
• Target set: Maritime targets, radar installations, command centres, air defence batteries, hardened structures

Industry Impact

For Baykar: The successful UAV-300 integration reinforces the Akinci as the most heavily armed UCAV operating outside of major power programmes. Baykar was already the world's largest UAV exporter in 2025, recording an export volume of $2.2 billion — and a demonstrated 250+ km stand-off strike capability from an unmanned platform significantly strengthens the platform's value proposition for existing and prospective export customers.

For Roketsan: The UAV-300 demonstrates that Roketsan's air-launched ballistic munitions roadmap — TRG-230 → UAV-230 → UAV-122 → UAV-300 — is on track, and that the company can systematically scale range and lethality within a UCAV-compatible weight envelope. The 300 ER was first publicly unveiled at IDEF 2025, moving from exhibition to live test in under 12 months.

For the UCAV industry broadly: An unmanned platform delivering a weapon at 250+ km range represents a meaningful threshold. It suggests UCAVs can begin substituting for manned strike aircraft in certain deep-strike mission profiles — particularly against maritime targets — at significantly lower procurement and operational cost. Defence analysts have noted that an ALBM-capable UCAV could serve as a lower-cost complement to manned heavy strike and multirole fighters.

For operators and integrators: The test validates the Akinci's fuselage centreline hardpoint as capable of handling a 900 kg munition — a constraint that limits which platforms can carry this class of weapon. Operators integrating the Akinci will need to account for mission planning that leverages altitude and speed to maximise the UAV-300's range, given that the 500+ km design ceiling is dependent on carrier launch conditions.

For regulators: Successful live test events of this kind typically accelerate formal service entry timelines. The UAV-230 followed a similar path from first firing to operational service declaration. Regulatory and acquisition communities in customer nations are likely to begin capability assessments for the UAV-300 integration in parallel with any Akinci procurement negotiations.